Family Home Evening

Well actually, Family *not at Home Evening. We ended up going to Lights of the South tonight. An awesome place to go and see acres and acres of Christmas lights. The girls loved it last year so we want to make this a Fisher tradition.

We thought going on a Monday night and a little early on in the month might save us from the crowds. We were right, tonight wasn't crowded at all and we had a great time. First we ate some dinner there, hot chocolate and all. Then ventured out to go on the hay ride that rides through all of the Christmas lights. The girls loved it.
One of our favorites is a giant castle that the hayride drives through.

We loved being together, looking at all the twinkling lights, and enjoying the sights of the season.

Fall Fun

It was actually cold enough in GA for scarves last week. Although this week we're in Florida and it was 84 degrees at Disney World today. No fall sweaters down here.

Can Summer Really Be Over?

Must be blogging time again. Although now I have to go through the daunting task of catching up all the summer posts I missed. I do have to admit I loved summer and being outdoors every chance we had as a family. So excited for a new season and some time to "catch up". Although with a new calling in church, coaching Cora's fall soccer team, buying and moving to a new home, I have a feeling things are still going to be busy for a while. Lots to catch up on and lots to post. Hooray for fall! :)

A "Time Out"

I was so excited to sign up for the Time Out For Women the first weekend in May up in Columbia, SC. A week before the event we find out that Sister Beck the General RS President and 2nd Counselor in the General YW's Presidency were coming Friday night, the first night of the TOFW conference. Of course Friday night was the night I was looking forward to the most. Mark Mabry, the photographer of Reflections of Christ would be speaking Friday evening. I felt this was a decision between to good things. The group of women I bought my tickets w. chose to stay in Augusta and I chose to go up to the conference. Low and behold I hit some traffic and made it just at the end of Mark's presentation. Shoot! Soon after there was a 20 minute break. I brought my book of his images and was hoping he would sign it. I stood in line and just as I was the next in line to have him sign they started to flick the lights-break time was over. I was crushed...I stood there for a little bit longer hoping for some small miracle. I think he just took pity on me but he said "hey, if you move to the side I can sign your book even though the conf. is starting again. Talk about tender mercies from the Lord. Not only did he sign my book, but wrote a nice message, took a picture w. me and even looked @ some of my pictures. Poor guy, bet he wished he hadn't pulled me aside.


I also had a surprise and ran into my friend Anna Sisson. We were stationed with Anna and her family in Germany and Washington. They are now at FT Bragg in NC. I also had a chance to stay w. another friend from Washington, Nikki Trawick. I got to share my story with her and show her the awesome images from the Reflections of Christ book.
If you haven't seen his images or this slideshow w. put to the song Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Freddie Ashby you should I think it's amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YADkd1n_Dfo

A little break for me. Great speakers, wonderful music, inspriational thoughts,
uplifting words. Just what I needed. A chance to meet the person who was inspired
to take such breathtaking photos depicting the Savior and his life. Photos that
display such joy and emotion. Pictures that touched my heart and my Spirit, that
inspired me to keep up w. taking pictures and striving to be better.

This was such a nice "time out" for me. Hey and how often do you get to see this:

Happy Easter

Along with all the flowers, blossoms, dresses. We are so happy to celebrate Easter. It was so nice to listen to conference, do our resurrection eggs, and try to focus on the Savior this past week. It's so easy to get caught up in the commercial part of Easter, with all the candy, eggs, and the Easter bunny. I really wanted to make sure we paid extra attention to the real reason we celebrate Easter. I love that our church likes to focus more on the Savior's resurrection instead of just his death. To KNOW that he lives again and that because of him we will too. This knowledge brings so much peace and happiness.

Spring Break in Myrtle Beach

A great deal, some days off, the beach, what a perfect combo. We were in need of some R&R and what better place to get that then the off season at the beach. We didn't have to fight crowds, we had the beach to ourselves, and traffic was minimal. Growing up, this is one of the beaches we went to as a family. It was fun to go there with my own little family this time.


The favorite activity on the trip had to be combing the beach for shells. Cora loves to look for them and has quite a collection. She and my Mom could spend all day looking for shells if we'd let them.


Myrtle beach is in South Carolina but is really close to the border of North Carolina. There is a little town called Calabash right near the border and it is famous for their seafood spreads. They also have restaurants down in SC so of course we had to go partake. A buffet of Shrimp, crablegs, and every imaginable seafood dish. I was in heaven.
This is Cora looking a little crabby @ the Giant Crab Calabash. She was done taking pictures I think.

All in all we had a wonderful time. Our little taste of summer in spring.

Meeting in Madison, GA

The best thing about living in Georgia right now is that my sister's husband is also stationed in GA at FT Benning. I'm always trying to think of when we can get together and what our next adventure will be. Her husband plays in the Army band and was going to be traveling for the week, so she and my nephews decided to come for the weekend. We thought it would be fun to take a little field trip. We found a little town called Madison, GA about an hour and a half from Augusta.

Visiting this quaint little southern town almost made us feel like we were stepping back in time. Madison is famous for it's collection of restored Pre-Civil War and Victorian homes. Another name for these homes are antebellum homes. The restored down town square is like stepping onto a set of a movie. There is a big courthouse that stands right at the corner of the town square. It was so fun to look at all of the blossoming trees,and cute little shops along the way. We didn't have a lot of time for our walking tour, but we did get to go in an awesome toy shop, a stained glass store, and walked past a very unique antique store called Attic Treasure. Of course w. our time being short we went to the only restaurant in town w. only one server and the slowest kitchen I have ever seen. They didn't even have a kids menu. Of course as soon as we walk out we see the pizza place w. slices for $1.50. That would have been a better fit w. our time constraints, but we crossed the street at the wrong crosswalk and didn't notice it till we were finished at the other place. Just our luck.
Lucky for the kids we spotted a playground and headed in that direction on our walking tour. All in all we adored the little town of Madison. I hope to return and maybe read all the historical signs next time. ;)

Things I've Learned Since I've been 5

Cora really has achieved so much this past year. She turned 5 years old last June and since then has learned how to:

-Ride her bike without training wheels
-Swing on the swing without anyone pushing
-Dive off the diving board @ the McChord pool and Grandma's pool
-Touch the bottom of Grandma's pool in the 8 FT
-Reading all by herself, 1st 2 books: Green Eggs and Ham, Cat In The Hat
(I love that these were some of the first books I learned to read too)
-Tie her shoes all by herself
-Started playing soccer and scored a goal
-Will swim on our neighborhood swimteam next month

Sorry if this seems like one of those parent brag posts, it's more for our memories and everything she has accomplished in just this last year. Definitely a year of firsts that we want to remember. I'm so proud of you Cora.

My Co-Pilot

This has been an interesting year full of change. With Cora in full day kindergarten Shay and I have missed her terribly during the day. I do have to say I never thought I would have that special one on one time with Shay the way I did with Cora. During Darryl's 1st year long deployment it was just Cora and I and I called her my little co-pilot. This year I've been able to have that same special time with Shay. I look at Cora's schedule now with school, friends, and teachers, getting to see almost more of her than we do. I realize that time with her is precious and something I treasure more than I can express.
Lately Shay has been so much fun to run errands with and be my model when I want to practice taking pictures. I'm surprised she doesn't run the other way when I break out the camera with all of the pictures I've been taking lately. I do need to spend more time with her on her ABC's and 123's. It's just so much fun to have fun that sometimes it gets put on the backburner. She is saying the cutest things, she is so mellow, and she is such a snuggler. I will miss this special time with my girls when they are both in school. Thank goodness we still have the summer, then I get to enjoy more of both of them.

First Soccer Season and First Goal

I have truly enjoyed watching Cora's first spring soccer season. When she first adorned the uniform, shinguards, and cleats I felt like I was looking at myself about 20 yrs ago. I wanted to make sure this was something she wanted to do, instead of me just forcing her to play soccer. Cora came to some of the soccer games I played in up in WA and since then has told me she wanted to play too.


Her team has come a long way since the first few games especially for being one of the youngest teams. It's an under 8 league, with Cora not even 6 yet sometimes it looks like she is playing w. giants out there especially since it's co-ed. I was so excited to see her score for the first time on Thursday night. She kept saying..did you see me kick it in Mom? The Sonic drive thru was a definite stop on our way home from the game that night. She wanted a big chocolate shake to celebrate. That's my girl!

After her shake she says to me, can we play on the same team when I get bigger?

I'll have to get a new shirt, this one won't fit.

I'd be honored to play on your team my sweet Cora. sniff sniff *wipe tears of joy
Hmm...hopefully Mommy won't need a bigger shirt by then. ;)

A new year a new resolve

Gosh, hard to believe it's March already?! Where did January and February go? As you probably know I have a lot of catching up to do. I tried to promise myself that I would not let my blog turn into the same lack of consistancy I have with keeping a hand written journal. Hmmm..it has. I have been consistant with my photography blog, but when it comes down to it, which will be more important in the long term and even right now? Pictures of random flowers or whatever, or imperfect photos of my family, our follies, and memories? I definitely know the answer to this. How easy is it just to post a picture on my photo blog and maybe title it if I'm lucky. Opposed to writing something creative attached to a moment or memory. The 2nd is definitely a lot more work but is totally worth the time. Thank you Mary for your inspiration. I'm jumping on the family blogging bandwagon again. So here's to the here and now, making the most of today, and remembering the details.

Married For A Decade

Can it really be 10 years that we are celebrating today? Are we that old? j/k Maybe it's because sometimes I still feel like we're newly weds. Then again that could be from being apart from each other for a year and year plus at a time. This year has certainly had it's tears of joy and it's heartaches. I'm glad that we can go through both and it has only strengthened us as a couple.

I'm so grateful to have you by my side again. It's been wonderful to watch you with the girls and hear their laughter when you play with them. I've loved watching you tuck them in and see you check on them as they're sleeping. It's been so nice to enjoy family dinners with you and go on walks when we're through. It's been a wonderful thing to hold your hand again. You wouldn't believe how much I missed something so simple.

I'm so glad my brother Tim and his family will be watching the girls for us this weekend as we head to the beach..one of our favorite places. I love you Darryl and I'm so happy to have spent the last 10 years with my husband and best friend.

Wow...for me?!

My friends Blaire and Drew gave me this award.
Thanks for not letting me be a quitter!!
Here are the rules for receiving the fabulous award:

1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.
2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.
3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then "add image" it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as well. To add it to your sidebar, add the "picture" gadget. Also, don't forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.

I’m addicted to...

01. My Cannon. It just came yesterday and we are just getting to know each other.

02. Posting to my photoblog. Trying to find that one picture a day that might actually
be good.

03. Face Book. Where else can you see what everyone is up to, even your kindergarten
buddies.

04. Twilight. Ok this one is probably shared by many but some don't want to admit it
Here is my admission.

05. My FAMILY. They are my everything. I'm so grateful for them in my life.

my 5 blogger awards go to...

01. Laurie Layer. Because she is my most favorite Twilight fan and she's not afraid to admit it.

02. Amy Kauer. She is a dear friend and is the" jill of all trades". She is always sharing or learning a new talent.

03. Sarah Arnett. Love Sarah's sense of humor. Her posts are always making me laugh or it's something I can relate to.

04. Jamie Chiara. Jamie could be writing in newpapers or magazines. Her posts and pictures are always amazing.

05. April Clark. Because she says it like it is. Loved her Not Quitting post and it has inspired me as well as Blaire and Drew. I'm so grateful to have such wonderful friends who don't let you quit.

:)

Georgia

So we finally made it to our destination..*actually about a month ago at the end of September is when we officially arrived. We live in the town of Evans a little city connected to Augusta, Georgia. If you're into golf it's where the big Masters tournament is held.

I must admit when we first arrived in Georgia it was oh so different then Washington state it took a little getting used to. Besides the fact that it was still near 90 degrees and very humid. Have I mentioned the bugs yet? Well there are a lot of them. Everyone has a "Bug Man" who comes and sprays regularly. We've had some issues w/ ants but my personal "bug man" has kept them at bay. Guess we'll have to hire one here soon.

Ok, this is probably sounding really negative but I have to say I am really enjoying our Georgia adventure so far and am loving it here. We've already visited my family in Florida two times..that definitely beats flying all day and paying for expensive plane tickets. It's only about a six hour drive. My sister and her family moved to Fort Benning this past summer, so now we're only 3 hours apart. I'm so excited to see and spend more time with her and her family. Our neighbors are nice and the ward is friendly and there's plenty to say about all of the southern hospitality. I feel like Paula Dean might just jump out from behind one of the bushes. It's still hard to be the new guys though. I'm loving the weather now..I won't say very much more about that I promise. It was so hard when we lived in WA during the rainy months when my parents would talk about their Florida weather.

I've had some friends ask about our house and where we're living. Sometimes it's better to picture things when you have a picture. We're just renting right now with an option to buy. We didn't get a chance to go house hunting before we moved and we thought this might be the best option to see what is down here. Basically I just looked for a good school and went from there. We definitely don't live across the street from the base anymore (a very nice luxury in WA). You're usually hard pressed to find a nice neighborhood so close to an Army base like that. So Darryl has a 30 minute commute to work. We sure miss him especially @ lunch time. So this is where we are living for now. There are definitely some pros and cons to this house so we're also working with a realtor. We're loving our new Georgia adventure..most importantly we're loving Daddy being home with us and in a position at work where he'll be teaching and non deployable. We miss our dear friends in WA terribly. There will always be a special place in my heart for WA but especially the friends we met there and will keep always.

P.S. I'll be sending our new address via email..don't forget to check :O)

Moving

Of course when you look out your front window and see this...AKA Powder Works Park. Just opened July 08'.

Or I could walk a block to the new middle school and start playing this...

You know something like this was bound to happen....

Just when your world seems perfect...a new adventure waits on the horizon. We miss Dupont and Washington but most especially the friends we hold dear in our heart.

Fall Colors Already

So usually around this time of the year in Washington state it makes me a little sad to see fall colors already out and the leaves already falling. This year I'm so glad to see a little bit of color early before we move to Georgia. Hard to believe we've lived in Washington for 6 years. That is the longest Darryl and I have lived in one area. I think the longest Darryl has lived his whole life.

We've had so much going on this summer I haven't been able to acknowledge this moving thing very much. And all of a sudden here we are just a few weeks out. There are so many people and things we will miss about WA I can't even start to name them all. There are so many places I would still like to go before we leave..I just hope we can fit one or two in.

So here's a big thank you going out to Mother Nature here in WA so we can savor a little bit of fall and WA before our move.

"The" Movie Update

Ok I just had to share..just in time for my birthday weekend.

Movie News Flash!

So, many of you have heard that the release of the sixth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has been moved from this Thanksgiving to next summer. First and foremost, please know that this schedule change has absolutely nothing to do with Twilight, me, or Summit Films (so enough with the imdb death wishes, okay?). This is Warner Bros. decision, and it was not motivated by anything Twilight-related.

Now for the good news! Though we're all sad to have to wait for Harry Potter, this open spot at the theater creates a cool opportunity. The good people at Summit were thrilled to let me know that now Twilight fans are going to get their movie three weeks earlier than scheduled. That's right—Twilight will be released in theaters November 21st! Let the merry-making commence!

--Stephenie

Back In The Saddle Again!!!

I'm in blogging mode again...so much to catch up on.

Welcome Home Daddy

The plane has landed, the countdown clock is complete, and Daddy is safe at HOME in our arms again. Reunited as a family, the moment will forever be etched in my mind. We've waited so long for this day. And now it is finally here. Words cannot describe the outpouring of emotions we feel. After 15 months Daddy is finally home!


The outcome...priceless. What happened before hand, not so much how I pictured it. As I look back at it now I'm starting to see the humor in it. Hopefully I'll find it even more humorous as time goes by because in the moment it was kind of frustrating. Let me just fill you in on some of the details. Darryls return date has always been somewhat of a mystery to us, so I figured we wouldn't find out the official time he would arrive until right before the big event. This did seem to be the case as we were finding out the day before his arrival, that the plane would be landing at 6am on June 10th. Hmmm I'm not so much of a morning person so I figured setting the alarm clock would be easy enough. Evidently it wasn't, luckily I woke up on my own at 5:30am, not usually what happens. I knew I wouldn't have time to take a shower and get the girls ready so I figured I'd better get a move on. I must have been still half asleep and frustrated at my shower dilema because as I was running out of my bedroom to wake the girls I slammed my little toe into the wall. I thought it would be just a stubbed toe but the pain ended up not going away and I couldn't put an ounce of weight on it. So here I am no shower, broken toe, trying to get the girls ready, sounds like a fun morning.


We drive up to the gym where Darryl's Brigade will be reunited w/ their families, and there was not a parking space to be had. So I just decided to park across the street. Let me just say that was the longest hop of my life (but definitely worth it). We didn't make it to see the live video footage of Darryl's plane landing and the soldiers getting off the plane Top Gun style, but we did make it in time to get a seat and wait for about an hour for him to be bused from McChord to Fort Lewis. Cora was getting so impatient. As they lined up in formation the band played a few songs, a few words were said and they were released to their families. I decided to stay put in one place w/ my toe the way it was and let him find us. Meanwhile Cora was sobbing holding onto my leg because so many other families had already found their soldiers. It seemed like an eternity before Darryl found us. My dear friend who took these wonderful pictures finally saw him and waved him over to us.
As soon as Cora saw him she took off in a full sprint wrapped her arms around his neck and I can't remember when she finally let go. All my worries melted away at this point..my toe, no shower, missing the plane touchdown, he was in our arms, finally here, nothing else mattered and that's how it should be. I can't thank my friend enough for being there with me, finding Darryl amongst the 315 other soldiers who all looked very similar, and taking such precious photos of a special time for our family.
That night I got on my knees and prayed with many thanks to Him for bringing us together again. My heart is so full.

Our "Vacation" to AZ

Here we are only one day to go before Darryl gets home. Could we been any more anxious or excited...I don't think so.
I wanted to post about our AZ trip before the big homecoming. My memory isn't what it used to be and I've learned if I don't write things down right away it's crazy how fast I'll forget it. Good thing for journaling.

The girls and I decided to take a trip to AZ to visit my sister and her family before they move back east to GA and it was a nice way to break up our wait time before Darryl gets home. Our good friends and neighbors the Hofers also just moved to AZ so we were excited to see their family again too. Trips are always fun to look forward to and I've had them spread out throughout this deployment which has helped us manage through.

The flying part by myself with the girls isn't my favorite thing to do, and this trip didn't help my attitude about flying solo w. them. A poor decision I made from the start was wearing white pants on the flight. What rational mom does this? I was setting myself up for something "really wrong" to happen. We are flying into the Tucson airport and I forget that it is surrounded by mountains, which means a lot of turbulence. Cora gets motion sickness and I forgot to go thru what to do if you experience this on the flight. Hmmm....good thing all she had to eat and drink all day was apple juice and pretzels. After she was finished I showed her the white baggie tucked in the seat pocket in front of us and told her what it was for. Just a little too late w/ that instruction. Oh well. At least we were renting a car at the airport and no one was going to be there to see us (and smell us) get off the air plane.

We ended up renting a Ford Edge. We definitely couldn't miss it in a parking lot because it was a nice burnt orange color. Fitting for AZ. Cora still talkes about that car and everytime she sees one that looks like it or even a car w/ the same burnt orange color she says there's our car. When Daddy gets home I want one of those. Sorry Cora we're getting another Van.
As we started our drive down to Sierra Vista Cora was so excited to see Cacuses. That is not a spelling error, she really called them that the whole time. I turned on the radio and to my surprise...Dust in the Wind came on the radio. Perfect timing as we're making the drive from Tucson to Sierra Vista...really just desert in between.


On this trip we also discovered Shay has alergies in the desert just like her Daddy. Her nose was running the whole time and the drainage would go down into her tummy and the poor little girl would have her tummy get upset almost everynight. Needless to say we were doing laundry everyday. Good thing my sister lives on post where they don't have to pay for water.

My cute little nephew van ended up getting a serious case of the hives when we were there as well. Poor little guy. They honestly covered his body from head to toe.

More and more this vacation was sounding like one out of the National Lampoons Vacation movies.

Aside from all this we did have a great trip and it was wonderful to see all the cousins play together. Lisa's husband JC watched the kiddos so we could have a sisters' night out. Thank you JC! We went and saw Baby's Mama but I think we were laughing more at the theater than the movie. We always have a great time together no matter what we do. We had a "Survivor Finale night" w. our dear friends the Hofers. So much fun to watch it w/ friends then by myself. We went to see these cool underground caves the "Colossal Cave" in fact and it reminded Lisa and I of one of our favorite movies Goonies.


I'm so glad we took this trip. I love to travel and see beauty in all places and landscapes. Coming from green WA it was amazing to see the desert and all of its beauty and especially the awesome sunsets. It was a great trip and I am happy to report after some dramamine and more instruction we didn't have any mishaps on the flight home. Until our friend picked us up from the airport and Shay started getting sick in their new van...shoot. All in all we loved our trip and would do it again for sure *especially because we'll be traveling w/ Darryl on our next trip!
Yay!